Grease gun filler pump



Aug@ 6,1957 l G. R. MORTON 2,801,776

GREASE GUN FILILR PUMP Filed Sept. 2, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1` Mgg/i516? Aug. 6, 1957 2,801,776

G. R. MORTON GREASE GUN FILLER PUMP Filed Sept. 2, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 2 il ll T 4- A A II-VVENTOR. 4 Gw/Yf United States Patent O GREASE GUN FILLER PUMP Glen R. Morton, Omaha, Nebr. Application September 2, 1955, Serial No. 532,226

Claims. (Cl. 222-380) The present invention relates to grease pumps and more particularly to a grease pump adapted for charging lubricating pumps with grease from a grease storage container.

In the past, hand operated grease pumps of this type have been poorly constructed for operating under conditions existing in the winter time, and have frequently proven unsatisfactory for pumping grease whic'h has been allowed to sit out in the cold weather and accordingly has `an unusually high viscosity. Also, the ptunps used heretofor have not been constructed in a well balanced manner with respect to the forces affecting the pump during the operation thereof, whereby the force applied to the pump handle was more than likely to tip the pump over, separate it from the storage container and cause the grease to spill, or to cause other like, unwanted circumstances.

Accordingly, ian object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved grease pump constructed and arranged to overcome the above noted deficiencies.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a grease pump embodying a lcover member adapted to iit over the top of a grease storage container, a particu.- larly arnanged piston and cylinder device on the cover member including a particularly arranged porting system and especially adapted for use with grease having a high viscosity, and a particularly arranged leverage system for operating the piston and cylinder device.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a grease pump as described above which may be operated in cold weather without first being primed, and wherein the leverage system includes a handle for hand operating the pump, whereby, during the discharge stroke of the pump, the force applied to the handle is generally directed downwardly toward the center of the cover member and operates to stabilize the position of the pump rather than to unbalance the pump yand cause it to tip or separate from the grease storage container as was the common circumstance heretofor.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grease pump as described above wherein the pumping apparatus is disposed substantially on top of the cover member, rather than immersed in the grease in the storage container, whereby the pumping mechanism may be more handily used and maintained than was heretofor the practice.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grease pump constructed and yarranged so that a large number of the parts may be die cast as `a single unit thereby substantially reducing the :cost of manufacture of the pump. i

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of one form of the invention taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l isa side elevational view in vertical cross section of a grease pump embodying the present invention and illustrating the pump in full lines when the piston is at Patented Aug. 6, 1957 the end limit of the discharge stroke, and in dotted lines when the piston is at the end limit of the inlet stroke;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the pump with the leverage system omitted for more clearly illustrating the intake porting arrangement of the pump;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end view of a portion of the pump looking at the left hand end of the pump as shown in Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged end View of la portion of the pump looking at the 4right hand end of the pump as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the grease pump 10 of the invention, there illustrated, is shown operatively associated with a grease storage container 11.

The grease pump embodies a cover member or base portion 12 which is circular in plan Iand has substantially the configuration of a truncated cone. The bottom portion of the cover member 12 is provided Iaround its peripheral under edge with a flat shoulder 13 which is adapted to rest upon the upper edge of the storage container, whereby the cover member substantially encloses the top of the storage container. Disposed on the central upper portion of the cover member is a cylinder 14 which has a rounded upper wall portion and substantially straight outer side wall portions as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The cylinder is provided with a cylindrical bore 15 which is closed at the left hand end, as viewed in Fig. l, by an end wall 16 of the cylinder casing, and is open at its right- !hand end for accommodating the movements of a piston rod. The cylinder 14 is arranged in a substantially horizontal position, when the grease pump is operatively as- .sociated with the container 11. Also, the left hand closed end of the cylinder is disposed on the left hand side of the center of the cover member 12 and the right hand open end of the cylinder is disposed on the right 'hand side of the center of the member.

Slidably arranged in the bore 15 of the cylinder is a cylindrical piston 17. The rod end portion of the piston is provided with an annular groove 18 which receives a piston ring 19, the outer periphery of the piston ring being in a slidable substantially fluid tight engagement with the inner wall of the cylinder. The head end of the piston is substantially vertically disposed as shown in Fig. l, and is adapted to meet the inner side of the end wall 16 in a substantially ush, face-to-face relationship when the piston 17 is in a left hand position as illustrated by solid lines in Fig. l. As subsequently more fully described, the piston is arranged to reciprocate through an intake stroke and a discharge stroke and between a iirst position illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. i and a second position illustrated by solid lines in Fig. l. The iirst position shows the piston when it has reached substantially the end limit of the intake stroke, and the second position shows the piston when it has reached substantially the end limit of the discharge stroke. The end limit of the intake stroke is determined by contact between the rod end of the piston and the left hand side portion of an upstanding stud 20 which is threadably received in the cover member 12. The lower portion of the cylinder end wall 16 is provided with a discharge port 21, which communicates between the cylinder bore and a downwardly extending passage 22. As viewed in Fig. l, the passage communicates with a horizontally extending cylindrical discharge passage 23 which is substantially sealed at its left hand end by a threaded plug 24. Disposed at the left hand end of the discharge passage and extending upwardly from the top of the cover member is cylindrical boss 25 which provides a discharge nipple for the grease pump. This boss is provided with a passage 26 which communicates at its lower end with the discharge passage 23 and its upper end with the atmosphere.

The lower portion of this passage is substantially cylin drical and communicates with an upper portion of the passage which is substantially cone-shaped, the diameter of the cone increasing upwardly towards the top of the passage. As best shown in Fig. l, the left hand side wall of the passage 22 is curved downwardly in a substantially concave fashion from the inner periphery of the end wall 16 toward the outer periphery of the end wall. The lower end of the passage 22 communicates with the upper end of a cylindrical, substantially vertically disposed bore 27 which is provided in a downwardly extending boss 28 of the cover member 12. The top of the bore is provided with a downwardly facing annular valve seat 29` formed around its periphery. This valve seat is disposed in a horizontal plane substantially in the plane of the central bottom portion of the casing of the cylinder. Just below the valve seat, the upper left hand portion of the wall of the bore 27 is provided with a substantially vertically disposed circular opening 30 which is arranged co-axially with the discharge passage 23 and communicates between the discharge passage and the bore 27.

Arranged in the bore 27 is a check valve which is operative for accommodating flow of grease through the discharge port 21, the passage 22, and thence through the opening 3i) into the discharge passage 23. The bottom portion of the bore 27 is substantially sealed by a threaded plug 31. Disposed in the bore is a cylindrical valve stem 32 which is provided at its upper end with a half-spherical valve member 33, having an annular groove around its periphery. Arranged in the groove is an annular O ring 34 which is adapted to seat in substantially vapor tight engagement with the valve seat 29 when the check valve is in a seated or closed position, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The valve is urged into a seated position by a helical spring 35 which is disposed in the bore 27 and bears at its upper end on the under side of the valve member 33 and at its lower end onthe upper side of the threaded plug 31. The force of the spring may be varied by adjusting the threaded plug. This adjustment is preferably such, that the valve member 33 is normally in a seated position, but may be unseated during a portion of the discharge stroke for accommodating either discharge of air or grease from the cylinder 14 as subsequently more fully described.

The cylinder is provided with an intake port 36 which extends transversely across the bottom wall portion of the cylinder 14 and communicates between the cylinder bore and an intake conduit. The intake port is substantially rectangular configuration and is provided with slightly rounded ends, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Also, the intake port is arranged at a position spaced from the end wall 16 of the cylinder in the direction of the open end of the cylinder, such that the intake port 36 is substantially sealed by the piston 17 until the piston has moved through the greater portion of the intake stroke where after the intake port is fully uncovered by the piston when the piston reaches the end limit of the intake stroke, This arrangement is particularly advantageous, as will be subsequently more fully described. The downwardly extending boss 28 is provided with a downwardly extending cylindrical portion 37 which encircles the intake port 36, the intake port being disposed substantially along a diameter of the cylindrical portion 37. The upper end of an intake conduit 3S may be press fitted, welded or otherwise secured in the cylindrical portion, and extends therefrom downwardly substantially in a vertical direction. The bottom open end of the conduit is spaced slightly above the bottom of the grease storage container, whereby grease in the container may be sucked up through the lower open end of the conduit, through the intake port and into the cylinder bore.

Finally, the invention comprises a lever arrangement for reciprocating the piston through the intake and discharge strokes. As best shown in Fig. l, the cover member 12 is provided with a boss 39 which extends upwardly from the edge thereof and is spaced outwardly from the open end of the cylinder, substantially directly below the axis thereof. This boss is provided with a pair of laterally spaced apart upstanding ears 40 between which is pivotally mounted the lower end of a lever 41. The lever is mounted to swing about a substantially hozizontal axis by a pin 42 which extends through an opening in the lower end of the lever and has its opposite end portions xed in openings in the ears 40. The lower portion 43 of the lever extends upwardly from the pin and forwardly therefrom in the direction of the open end of the cylinder, when the lever is in the position as illustrated in Fig. l. Also, the lever is provided with an intermediate portion 44 which extends substantially vertically upwardly from the top of the lower portion 43 and then curves gracefully forwardly, or to the left as shown in Fig. l, and terminates in a handle portion 45. This handle portion is substantially horizontal and is disposed upwardly from and substantially directly above the central portion of the cover member, when the lever' 41 is in the position as illustrated in Fig. l. Also, as illustrated in Fig. l, the handle portion 4S is swingable in an arc between a rst position, illustrated by dotted lines, wherein the handle portion is disposed substantially above an outer edge of the cover member when the piston is at the end limit of the intake stroke; and a second position, illustrated by full lines in Fig. l, when the handle portion is disposed substantially directly above the center of the cover member when the piston 17 is at the end limit of the discharge stroke'. The piston is connected to the lever 41 by a piston rod 46 having a ball on its left hand end which is rotatably received in a socket carried by the center portion of the rod end of the piston. The right hand end of the rod is bifurcated to form Va pair of laterally spaced apart ears which are arranged on either side of the lever 41. These ears are pivotally connected to the lever by a pin 47 which extends rotatably through an opening in the lever and has its opposite ends tixed in suitable openings in the ears. More particularly, the lever arrangement for reciprocating the piston is such that, the pivotal axis of the lever 41 is disposed below the reciprocatory axis of the piston 17 and the pivotal connections of the piston rod 46 are such that they are arranged above the pivotal axis of the lever 41 whereby the piston rod moves along a substantially horizontal axis during the greater portion of the discharge stroke. Thus, the force exerted on the handle portion 45 of the lever is utilized to a maximum degree during the discharge stroke of the piston when a maximum application of force is most desirable. Also, the handle portion of the lever, upon which the initial force is applied, has a moment arm or is swingable in an arc about the pivotal axis of the lever, which has a radius 4S substantially four times as great as the moment arm or radius 47 of the arc swung through by the point where the piston rod is pivotally connected to the lever. Thus, the mechanical advantage is such'that the lever may be operated with ease for operating the pump even during the winter time when adverse low temperature conditions may be such that the grease in the grease storage container has an extremely high viscosity. Now reiterating, it is noted that when the grease pump is operatively associated with the grease storage container, the under shoulder 13 of the cover member rests and bears on the upper edge of the container, whereby the grease pump is supported entirely around its under periphery by the storage container. Also, the cover member 12 is provided with a pair of downwardly disposed ears 48 which are diametrically arranged at opposite edge portions of the cover member. These ears threadably receive a pair of wing nuts 49, the inner ends of which may be screwed tightly against the outer wall of the storage container 11 to substantially prevent the grease pump from tipping with respect to the storage container, as the handle 45 is operated. It should also be noted,

that during the discharge stroke of the piston 17, a maximumforce is exerted upon the handle portion of the lever. This force is initially applied to the handle portion 45 when it is in an upstanding position, substantially directly above one edge of the cover member. Thence the handle portion is moved towards a diametrically opposite portion of the cover member and through an arc which terminates over the top center of the cover member, whereby at the termination of the discharge stroke the force being exerted upon the handle is directed substantially downwardly toward the center of the cover member. Thus, this force operates to stabilize the position of the pump with respect to the storage container, rather than to dislodge the pump and cause it to tip or separate from the storage container as was the common circumstance heretofore. Also, since the force exerted upon the handle portion of the lever directs the handle portion through an arcuate path from one outer edge portion of the cover member toward the center thereof, the flat bottom portion 50 of the storage container, which is positioned forwardly of the handle, aids in further stabilizing the grease pump and storage container, as the handle is moved through the discharge stroke. v

`In operation of `the grease pump, the cover member ispositioned on the top of the grease storage container, as previously noted, and the wing nuts 49 are tightened to secure the cover into proper position. The discharge nipple is then connected to one end of a hose (not shown) which is adapted to be connected at its other end to the intake nipple of the grease gun or other apparatus to be charged with grease. The handle of the grease pump is then moved rapidly between the full line and dotted line positions to reciprocate the piston 17 through alternate intake and discharge strokes. This action quickly evacuates the air from the intake conduit 38 and the cylinder 14, and creates a strong partial vacuum in the cylinder which, at the termination of each intake stroke, draws a charge of grease into the cylinder through the intake port 36 and the intake conduit 30. During each discharge stroke, this chargev of grease is rammed by the` piston through the discharge port 2l, the passage 22 and past the check valve into the discharge passage 23. The piston is reciprocated until grease has been forced through the discharge passage, through the nipple 25, and out the end of the hose so as to prevent air, which was initially in the hose, from being forced into the apparatus to be charged with grease. Thereafter the free end of the hose is connected to the intake nipple of the apparatus, and the piston is reciprocated until the apparatus has been suitably charged with grease.

More particularly, the construction and arrangement is` such that during the intake stroke, the piston ring 19 operates to prevent loss of vacuum by substantially preventing air from seeping into the cylinder from the rod end of the piston and the seated check valve operates to prevent loss of vacuum by substantially preventing air from scoping into the cylinder from the discharge passage 23. The adjustment applied to the spring of the check valve is such that, during the period when the piston is being reciprocated for evacuating air from the intake conduit 3S and the cylinder 14, the check valve will unseat during the discharge stroke of the piston to accommodate passage of air from the cylinder, past the check valve and to the atmosphere. Also, as previously described, the intake port 36 is not uncovered by the piston until the piston is nearing the end limit of the intake stroke. Thus, the intake port is not uncovered until the vacuum in the cylinder has reached its maximum strength whereby the grease in the intake conduit is literally popped through the intake port and into the cylinder, when the piston has reached the end limit of `the intake stroke. This porting arrangement aids the' pump to be operated without rst hand priming the intake conduit and the cylinder with grease as was generally heretofore the practice.

Heretofore, due to the construction ofthe grease pumps convenience caused by this arrangement are obvious. The particular construction and arrangement of thel grease pump of the present invention enables the piston and cylinder portion of the pump to be arranged on top of the cover member. The rest of the pump structure may be arranged conveniently with the cover member, thus all of the pump structure, with the exception of the intake conduit, is arranged at the top of the grease storage container above the level of the grease, whereby the pump may be maintained in a clean, operating condition without an undue amount of inconvenience.

Thus, it may be seen, that there has been provided a new and improved grease pump constructed and arranged to overcome the previously noted deficiencies existing in grease pumps used heretofore. As well as having numerous advantages as noted above, the grease pump of the present invention is so constructed and arranged that a large number of the parts may be die cast as a single unit thereby substantially reducing the manufacturing cost of the pump. More particularly, this single unit comprises the body portion of the cover member, the cylinder, and the various passages and the porting arrangement as heretofore described.

The foregoing description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitation should be implied therefrom, for it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations and changes may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A grease pump comprising; a cover member adapted to fit over the top of a grease container,I a cylinder on said cover member, said cylinder having a bore for receiving a piston, one end of said cylinder being closed and the other end of said cylinder being open for accommodating the movement of a piston rod, the bottom portion of said cylinder having a -discharge port arranged adjacent to said closed cylinder end, means dening a discharge passage communicating between said discharge port and the atmosphere, a check valve having a valve member arranged in said discharge passage for accommodating ilow of grease through said discharge port in the direction of said passage, said valve member substantially sealing said passage from fluid ow from said passage in the direction of said dischargev port, a piston slidably arranged in said bore, a lever pivotally connected to said cover member, a piston 'rod pivotally connected between said piston and said lever whereby said piston may be reciprocated through an intake stroke and a discharge stroke in said cylinder by operation of said lever, the bottom portion of said cylinder having an intake port spaced a substantial distance from said closed cylinder end in the direction of said open cylinder end, the distance said intake port is spaced from said closed end and the length of said piston being such that during said intake stroke the piston substantially seals said intake port until the piston has substantially reached the end limit of the intake stroke thus creating sufficient vacuum in the inner end of said cylinder for drawing grease having a high viscosity through said port as said piston opens said port at the end of said intake stroke, and an intake conduit communicating at one end with said intake port and adapted to be immersed at its other end in a supply of grease in a grease container when said cover member is placed thereon.

2. A grease pump comprising; a cover member adapted to `fit over the top of avgrease container, acylinder on said cover member, one end of said cylinder being closed and the other end of -said cylinder being open for Vaccommodating the mcvement of a piston rod, said cylinder having a discharge port arranged at said closed cylinder end, means defining a discharge passage communicating between said discharge port and the atmosphere, a check valve having a valve member arranged in said discharge passage for accommodating flow of grease through said discharge port in the direction of said passage, said valve member substantially sealing said passage from fluid flow from said passage in the direction of said discharge port, a piston slidably arranged in said bore, said check valve being disposed at the inner end of said cylinder to avoid undesired space between the inner end of said cylinder and said check valve for substantial exhaustion of all grease and air from said cylinder through said valve at the end of each pumping stroke to avoid the entrapment of compressible air between said piston and said check valve and to thereby prevent air locking of the pump, a lever pivotally connected to said cover member, a piston rod pivotally connected between said piston and said lever whereby said piston may be reciprocated through an intake stroke and a disch-arge stroke in said cylinder by operation of said lever, the bottom portion of said cylinder having an intake port spaced a substantial distance from said closed cylinder end in the direction of said open cylinder end, the distance said intake port is spaced from said closed end andthe length of said piston being such that during said intake stroke the piston substantially seals said intake port until the piston has substantially reached the end limit of the intake stroke thus creating suicient vacuum in the inner end of said cylinder for drawing grease having a high viscosity through said port as said piston opens said port at the end of said intake stroke, and an intake conduit communicating at one end with said intake port and adapted to be immersed at its other end in a supply of grease in a grease container when said cover member is placed thereon.

3. A grease pump comprising; a cover member adapted to lit over the top of a grease container, a horizontally disposed cylinder arranged on top of said cover member and having an axially extending bore for receiving a piston, one end of said cylinder being closed and the other end of said cylinder being open for accommodating the movement of a piston rod, said cylinder having a discharge port arranged adjacent to said closed cylinder end, means defining a discharge passage communicating between said discharge port and the atmosphere, a check valve having a valve member arranged in said discharge passage for accommodating flow of grease through said discharge port in the direction of said passage, said valve member substantially sealing said passage against uid flow from said passage in the direction of said discharge port, a piston slidably arranged in said bore, a lever pivotally connected to said cover member, a piston rod pivotally connected between said piston and said lever whereby said piston may be reciprocated through an intake stroke and a discharge stroke in said cylinder by operation of said lever, and an intake conduit communicating v at one end with said intake port and adapted to be immersed at its other end in a supply of grease in a grease container when said cover member is placed thereon, the pivotal connection for said lever being arranged adjacent to the outer edge of said cover member and spaced outwardly from the open end of said cylinder, and the pivotal axis being substantially normal to and spaced below the reciprocatory axis of said piston, said lever having a handle portion swingable in an arc between a rst position wherein said handle portion is disposed substantially directly above an outer edge of said cover member when the piston is at the end limit of said intake stroke and a second position when said handle portion is disposed substantially directly above the center of said cover member when the piston is at the end limit of said discharge stroke. 4. A grease pump comprising; a cover member adapted to t over the top of a grease container, a horizontally disposed cylinder arranged on top of said cover member and having an axially extending bore for receiving a piston, one end of said cylinder being closed and the other end of said cylinder being open for accommodating the movement of a piston rod, the bottom portion of said cylinder having a discharge port arranged adjacent to said closed cylinder end, rneans defining a discharge passage communicating between said discharge port and the atmosphere, a check valve having a valve member arranged in said discharge passage for accommodating ow of grease through said discharge port in the direction of said passage, said valve member substantially sealing said passage against uid flow from said passage in the direction of said discharge port, a piston slidably arranged in said bore, a lever pivotally connected to said cover member, a piston rod pivotally connected between said piston and said lever whereby said piston may be reciprocated through an intake stroke and a discharge stroke in said cylinder by operation of said lever, and an intake conduit communicating at one end with said intake port and adapted to be immersed at its other end in a supply of grease in a grease container when said cover member is placed thereon, the pivotal connection for said lever being arranged adjacent the outer edge of said cover member and spaced outwardly from the open end of said cylinder, and the pivotal axis being substantially normal to and spaced below the reciprocatory axis of said piston, said piston rod being pivotally connected to said lever at a point spaced above the pivotal axis of said lever such that said piston rod is reciprocated along a substantially horizontal axis during said discharge stroke of the piston. 5. A grease pump comprising; a cover member adapted to lit over the top of a grease container, a horizontally disposed cylinder arranged on top of said cover member and having an axially extending bore for receiving a piston, one end of said cylinder being closed and the other end of said cylinder being open for accommodating the movement of a piston rod, said cylinder having a discharge port arranged adjacent to said closed cylinder end, means dening a discharge passage communicating between said discharge port and the atmosphere, a check valve having a valve member arranged in said discharge passage for accommodating flow of grease through said discharge port in the direction of said passage, said valve member substantially sealing said passage against iluid ilow from said passage in the direction of said discharge port, a piston slidably arranged in said bore, a lever pivotally connected to said cover member, a piston rod pivotally connected between said piston and said lever whereby said piston may be reciprocated through an intake stroke and a discharge stroke in said cylinder by operation of said lever, and an intake conduit communicating at one end with said intake port and adapted to be immersed at its other end in a supply of grease in a grease container when said cover member is placed thereon, said lever being provided with a handle portion swingable in an arc about said pivotal axis of said lever, the radius of said arc being substantially four times as great as the radius of an arc about said pivotal axis and swung through said point where the piston rod is pivotally connected to said lever,

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 872,482 Tolman Dec. 3, 1907 1,968,115 Zimmerman g July 3l, 1934 2,650,744 Dirksen Sept. 1, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 474,547 Canada June 1,9, i 

